Science Olympiad:

Working to fix Utah’s Workforce Training

Pipeline

Tech Workforce Training Pipeline (Ideal)

Curious elementary school kids Enthusiastic middle school kids Well-prepared high school kids

(SLCC et al.) Operators and Technicians

(U of U, USU, BYU) Engineers

(U of U, USU, BYU) Scientists/researchers

But it’s not well-prepared students going into the pipeline…

• Policies limit hands-on training in Jr & Hi School – no classroom animals, pets, bunsen burners, plants;

• Unintended “standards-tied-to-pay” effects – eliminates education as a process; creates training

“how to pass a standardized test” – conflict of interest: competition for best students

• Education fad toward online: – “shop” classes expensive/passe´ – hands-on & writing skills lost

• Curious kids • Special needs kids • ESL kids • Underrepresented

Utah kids unqualified for tech jobs!

Utah’s National STEM Performance

• Since 2004, Utah’s grade 7-12 performance relative to national peers in Science Olympiad has declined from 50% to the bottom 10% of the country

• Kansas, with approximately the same population as Utah, has about 250% higher participation rates and scores consistently much higher

• Utah tech companies forced to recruit from out-of-state in order to compete!

Legislative STEM fixes • Eliminate punitive systems assuming

teachers don’t care • Create incentives for teachers to

participate in extracurricular STEM • Assign pay-tied-to-performance for

school and district administrators: – Adhere to evaluation systems with inputs

from students, parents, peers, administrators

– Do administrators hire science teachers with a diverse mix of disciplinary interest? (e.g., Bio, earth, chem, physics?)

– Do they encourage extracurricular participation with teacher and parental involvement?

Gov. Huntsman visiting the 2008 Utah Science Olympiad team prior to their departure to the national competition at George Washington University.

Vision: Extracurricular Hands-on STEM––Science Olympiad • Written in to CEMRI grant

– $20k in participant support & supplies – Paid student support – Salary support for a coordinator

• Affects over 70 schools in Utah from corner to corner; 15 kids/team: grd 7-12

• U of U has previously sponsored >$70k total scholarship funds for medalists

• Events represent disciplines of 15 academic departments and five colleges.

• Dropped Sept 30 by Weber State; available to be picked up by the U of U

Vision: to be top-ten in the Nation and host the 2016 National Competition (1,800 of the nation’s best students)

U of U hosting Science Olympiad • Dr. Debra Mascaro, MRSEC Outreach Director • Prof. Anil Virkar, MRSEC PI and • Dr. Ian Harvey, start-up coach

250 support volunteers 43 total events 57 Utah schools Jr. High & H.S. divisions 1100 students on-the-day

Event Types • Science Concepts and

Knowledge • Science Processes and

Inquiry Skills • Science Application and

Technology

Anatomy Awesome Aquifers Bottle Rocket * Disease Detectives Don't Bug Me Ecology Parachute Egg Drop * Food Science Heredity Meteorology Metric Mastery Mission Possible * Oceanography Road Scholar Rocks & Minerals Science Crime Busters Simple Machines Solar System Storm the Castle * Tower Building* Write it - Do it

Aside: Science Fair Comparison • Targets different student populations

– Science Fair is effective to attract the “individual contributor” mindset

– Science Olympiad for structured problem solving; fosters collaborations…

• “complementary” rather than competing

Overview: Cliché Applicability

Multidisciplinary Inclusive Teamwork-oriented Communication-oriented Self assembly Self selection

Science Olympiad is:

Multidisciplinary! • 15 students per school team (Sr. limit: 5) • Distributed among 20 events (out of 26) • Two students per event team • 2-5 events per student!

Communication/Teamwork Oriented Relationships

• Student / Teacher • Student / team • Student / event-mate • Student / event coach • Student / event judge • Student / Community • Engineering Log-books

“Self-assembly” • Each “event” reflects the

core of entire academic “disciplines”

• Many are engineering success predictors

• Sub-divided further – Life / Pers / Social – Earth / Space – Physics / Chemistry – Engineering / Technology – Inquiry / Nature

Astronomy Circuit Lab Chemistry Lab Disease Detective Ecology Experimental Design Fermi Questions Food Science Forensics Health Science Oceanography Physics Lab Remote Sensing Robot Arm * Rocks & Minerals Sound of Music Write It / Do It

“Self-Selection” • Dedication • Aptitude • Passion!

Reinforce identity in Jr. High School!

• Design & Build Chemical Plants

• Design & Build Energy Systems

• Silicon Chip Processing

• Design & Build Medical Devices

• Consumer Products

Chemical

Engineering

You are the kids we want! • $500-2,000 scholarships in discipline-specific

events • BOTH jr. high and high school divisions • CEMRI is relevant to two events (MSE, Optics) • >$70k total scholarships offered; 30% girls • USU and WSU followed suit…

Types of student interactions • Sponsor coach clinics • Teacher training • Provide event coaches • Formal recruiting tables • Scholarships • Awards ceremony • Post-awards ceremony • Invite to on-campus events • Department mailing lists • Solidify a discipline-associated “identity”

PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

www.physics.utah.edu

“The Message” as-sent • “We understand your commitment!” • “We recognize your effort!” • “You can succeed in this field!” Target underrepresented groups!

The messages received… “Major Universities are paying attention with real

scholarships!” “Our district needs to take this more seriously” more schools, more kids, more teachers, more parents need

to get involved Enhanced level of competition! UT teams are nationally competitive Everybody wins!

http://www.soinc.org/events/

www.soinc.org/events/

Did you know?

• 47 events today • 4 University and College campuses

supported today’s events • 125 event support volunteers • 30 campus hosts guided you around

campus • 20 ROTC Cadets provided Host

Support

Department of

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Science Olympiad ECE Scholarships

Medalists in the Optics Competition will

receive ECE Scholarships as follows:

$1,000 Gold Medal Winners

$750 Silver Medal Winners

$500 Bronze Medal Winners

Have you ever played

“Periodic Scrabble”?

Alyson Black 8th gradeWillowcreek Middle School, Lehi, Utah County

125+ Science Olympiad Support Volunteers… Allen Farley Paul Rickets Dylan Gregerson Tiffany Horton Aimee F. Mottl Jennifer Hong Jeff Jones; Shaun Gladden Tony Butterfield Ari Fershtut

Tiana Stauffer Danny (Donghwi) Bae David Thomas, Ryan Steele Valerie Martin Isaiah Davies Kristie Holbrook Stephanie Leonard Sara Sanders Nick Johnson Yiyi Anderson Brian Greene Drew Ellingson Jordan Frei

Nancy Mesner Hillary Hough Jeremy Hill Richmond Thornley Jessica Bone Emily Thomas Mark Burgess Erin Gavin Florence Fernandez Shanae Ralphs Mariah Hancock Jenna Fiscus Patricia Kuhns Robert Erickson Heather Marie Threlkeld Cynthia Jolly Joseph Heninger Jennifer Heninger Adam Howe Peter Howe Dennis Guymon Nathan L. Hulet Emily Means Michael Whittaker Ben Bunes Dan Jacobs Megan Campbell Nosheen Khan

Valery Kennion Raleigh Jones Michelle Reed Dimitri Pham Annicka Carter, Jackson Richards David Judd Nancy Ann Little Sally Yoo Mark Khoury Darien Shapiro Nick Traeden, Zack Carson Maura Hahnenburger,

Kenny Morley Mike Hamilton Robert Stevens Iain Harvey Doug Baird Sarah Aylor Catherine Newman Michael Gill Taylor Sorenson Baline Anderson Neil Cotter

Fadumo Nor Braxton Duncan Sadee Hansen Harold Truong Islam Alhasnawy Abed John Newsome Deb Nelson Tatiana Subbotin Monica McKinlay, Michelle Ballamis, Natalie McKinlay, Steve Weir Nick Hagen Calvin Rowley Hope Braithwaite Jonathan Poole, Kaitlynne Castolene Amy Christiansen Benjamin Sperry Miles Roberts Jeff Bates Zach Hansen Ian Glenn Shane Patterson Christine Cheng BreAnna Brewster Rick Worthen Mrs. Worthen

Look at all the B-Div. event coordinators!

Mark Nielsen, U Biology Ramesh Goel, Tiffany Horton U CvEE Jeff Stephenson, HAFB Sharon DeReamer, SLCC Butch Atwood, Ryan Steele, David Thomas: U Chem Nicole Barthelemy, WSU Nancy Messner / USU CNR Murielle Parkinson, Sci Oly Community Kayleen Hinrichs, Sci Oly Community Mike Kuhns, USU/CNR Mathieu Francoeur, U MechE

Melissa Maestas, Kevin Perry, U Atmospheric Sciences Sue Harley, SLCC Steven Fershtut Wayne Sumner, Northridge Neil Cotter, Rajesh Menon, ECE Wayne Springer, Tabatha Beuhler, U Physics Jim Wilson, WSU Erich Peterson, U Geology Scott Cornelsen, Campbell Scientific Robert McKinlay, Sci Oly Community Tiffany Kinder / Eric Peterson USU CNR Cpt. Adam Zimmer, Lt. Jon Poole (HAFB)

Proud Sponsor of Utah

Science Olympiad

Look at all the C-Div. event coordinators!

Matt Linton, U Biology Wayne Springer, Tabatha Beuhler, U Physics Terry Ring, U-ChemE Nicole Barthelemy, WSU Nancy Mesner, USU, CNR Murielle Parkinson - Sci Oly Community Scott Anderson U Chem Brent Horn, WSU Mike Kuhns, USU CNR David Jolly HAFB Frances Bradshaw, HAFB Craig Caldwell, SLCC

Mike Scarpulla, U MSE Neil Cotter / Rajesh Menon, ECE Martin Horvath, U biology Kevin Perry, U Atmospheric Sciences Jack Treasure, Layton Erich Peterson, David Dinter* Geo Adam Beehler, Physics Wes Sanders, SLCC Mathieu Francoeur, U Mech E Robert McKinlay, Sci Oly Community Tiffany Kinder, Eric Peterson / USU CNR Cpt. Adam Zimmer, Lt. Jon Poole (HAFB)

Next year’s Artistic theme is Materials Science

Proud Sponsor of Utah

Science Olympiad

2013 Utah Science Olympiad Artistic Theme:

Materials Science is full of Artistic possibilities!

2013 Utah Science Olympiad Artistic Theme:

Materials Science is full of Artistic possibilities!